Vooza Is Funny
Vooza is a fictional startup that’s developed “a mobile web app that steals data from your phone and sells it to Eastern European spammers.”
Such a premise leads to hilarious videos that expose the vacuous nonsense pervading the world of high-tech startups if not corporate life overall.
The videos feature Vooza employees bloviating about everything from the company’s mission to its funding strategy and design philosophy. They’re well-crafted and feature deadpan performances that at times are nothing short of brilliant.
Above I’ve featured one that really nails the empty jargon that characterizes contemporary marketing-speak. And there’s more at Vooza.com.
Vooza Is Serious
Clearly Vooza is onto something. It’s a hit on the web and has been by the likes of Forbes, The New York Times and Wired.
But Vooza’s popularity comes from more than being funny. The videos are also touching upon something serious.
As has been frequently reported, Silicon Valley is experiencing a backlash. In San Francisco, longtime residents are protesting, and even attacking, private buses that shuttle recently-arrived Google workers between the city and Mountain View.
This political response to high-tech’s growing wealth and power is joined by a cultural backlash as well. There’s a growing lack of faith in the high-tech project overall, especially its social media manifestations. We are not only increasingly disenchanted with companies like the fictional Vooza, we don’t trust them. Many of their products seem trivial at best. At worst they’re nothing but spying machines—as Vooza so proudly explains—designed to steal our data and sell it at a profit.
Vooza Is Smart Business
Interestingly, roasting the inanity (if not the venality) of the high-tech world may be a great business strategy. On its homepage Vooza lets you know that it’s available to make videos for your company. And to appear at tech conferences.
A few weeks back I turned you on to a similar pitch from the comedy team of Tripp & Tyler who also create funny videos lambasting corporate life in order to generate business from corporate clients.
As the bloom falls off the rose of the digital revolution, maybe the best way to get work from high-tech companies is to mock them. There could be a goldmine in biting the hand that feeds you, as long as you’re biting with a smile.